I'm looking at it from the entire SLT lineup though, basically saying the A57 offers the best value for the dollar in the lineup- best bang for the buck for the entire range of consumers that would be considering an SLT.

Of course there will be exceptions to the rule, but its hard to argue against the A57 being the best bang for the buck in the line up for a currently produce SLT camera.

A65 would be my next choice.

It's often very hard to say what will give the best bang for the buck even when looking at the market in general.

I can easily argue that the a37 represents the best value for general public, because it offers the image quality of the a57 at a lower price. While the a57 does have a larger body with more buttons, most people won't be using heavy telephoto zooms (which is where a larger body makes a noticeable difference), and will use the camera mostly in auto mode (meaning that the slightly better controls won't be used much).

I can also say that the a57 represents the best value (for reasons that you state).

The same applies for the a65: It's the lowest priced SLT model with 24 MP. The average compact camera upgrader is very familiar with having to flash in low light (removing the issue of ISO performance), and will be very happy with the resolved detail because high ISOs won't be used. In addition, the high resolution EVF will be a nice wow factor for people used to low resolution bridge camera EVFs. It could be worth the money for a lot of people, simply because they'll be astounded at the detailed files.

An argument for even the a77 is possible: The weather seals offer additional assurance, which is nice because the 'average joe' might want to shoot in adverse weather. That could very well be worth the extra money. And the points about the a65's 24 MP sensor would apply too.

And I could still argue that the a580 represents the best value for someone looking to really grow their photo skills. The long battery life, superior image quality, and very good control layout go a long way.